Actually related to demons
by Doing my best
Summary: Jem isn't feeling very well, but Will insists on going out of the Institute. Maybe he's just being egoistic, but maybe he's doing it for his parabatai (he would never admit it anyway). Just a one-shot written because I had a good mood. Careful, contains ducks.


**I haven't written anything in years, but I really missed the feeling, so I decided to write a one-shot. I hope it'll be a warm-up and maybe I'll start writing again.**  
 **I want to start with apologizing for all the mistakes - I'm just learning English, I'm not a native speaker. Let me know when (if?) you find anything.**

 **All the comments and reviews are more than welcome!**

Jem couldn't remember the last time he coughed that hard.  
He stubbornly tried not to increase the yin fen dose, but it made him feel tired more easily lately and he was suffering exhausting coughing fits after anything tiring. Usually after few whiles he was good enough to feel almost healthy till the next dose.  
But this time he was coughing for a couple of minutes straight and couldn't help but start worrying. Of course it wasn't as bad as sometimes after a fight, when he had used all his strength to defeat an enemy. Then his organism needed the drug to do things as simple as take a breath. Still, coughing now suggested that the amount of yin fen he was already taking was not longer big enough and he needed more.  
A sound of an opening door distracted his thoughts.  
'Will? Will, is that you?' he asked softly. Not that it was necessary – who else would've come into his room without knocking? But even a simple need to say something was dragging his thoughts away from the illness.  
'Disappointed?' questioned his parabatai, a smile heard clearly in his voice. 'Dress up, we're going out.'  
'Going out?' asked Jem with disbelief. 'I don't know if it's the best idea…'  
'Of course it is. It is my idea, it has to be.'  
'I don't think it's a good day for me to…'  
'We're just going to the park. Come on, I need your help to prove my theory.'  
There was no point in arguing with Will if he had something in his mind. If Jem refused to go, his friend would have gone anyway and who knows what trouble he would've gotten himself into. So Jem just sighed loudly and rose from his armchair, careful not to cause another coughing fit. He hoped that Will could sense his parabatai wasn't today a good companion for things like a chase after a disorientated and terrified goblin between woods, like it had happened last spring. He smiled slightly remembering a black-haired boy, speeding through park and drawing confused looks due to lack of invisibility runes. How mad at him was Charlotte that day!

A quarter later they were both walking through busy streets of London, enjoying one of rare at this time of year warm days. The sun was shining brightly, so Jem happily turned his face to the light. The park was filled with colorful autumn leaves – few remaining trying to resist the weather and not to be taken off the trees by wind, the rest covering grass and paths. They rustled as Will floundered in them with a grin on his face.  
After a while they reached a bench by the pond. Will took a few leaves from the seat and gestured for Jem to sit down. The silver-haired boy sat thankful, but also positively surprised how little was he tired. After that morning he feared he wouldn't be able to make it to the park, but he was feeling quite good, considering. He started to enjoy their walk and was happy that Will managed to talk him into going out a dark Institute to this warm and sunny park. When he sat comfortably, Will started opening a paper bag he took with him.  
'Are you finally going to tell me what you've got in here?' Jem looked warily at his parabatai.  
'Yes, I finally am' Will grinned widely. 'Food!' he said happily, opening the bag and showing him poultry pies. So they were the cause of that nice smell all around the Institute this morning! Jem wondered how Will managed to convince Agatha to bake them for him.  
'So we came here for a picnic? If I hadn't known you better, I could have thought you try to make a pass at me' joked Jem, smiling at his friend.  
'Admit it, you'd be flattered. But no, unfortunately it's not for you.'  
'You're going to eat them all alone?' Jem raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't doubt Will would be able to eat that amount of food, but he wouldn't have taken him to the park just to eat everything in front of him without sharing.  
'Ducks' answered Will seriously, but his eyes were shining with excitement.  
Jem was dumbstruck.  
'Excuse me?'  
'Ducks. We'll give them to ducks. I want to see if these little beasts will eat their own kind. If so, I will have proven my theory that these terrifying animals are actually related to demons. Maybe I'll manage to breed a race of cannibal ducks. You think they would devour each other and I wouldn't have to endure their presence in London anymore?'  
Jem laughed.  
'What if they won't eat them?'  
'Well, then we will, for lunch. Now, go on, give some to the ducks!'  
'Why me? Just admit, you're too scared to come anywhere near them.'  
'Of course I am! And if you were smarter, you'd be scared too. But luckily for me you're not, so I could take you with me to be my assistant.'  
'What have they ever done to you?' Jem smirked and grabbed one of the poultry pies from Will's bag. He crushed it in his fingers, closing to the water and feeling his friend's presence right behind him. A sudden thought crossed his mind – what if Will wasn't here just to prove his theory, but also to take Jem's thoughts away from his illness? Probably no one else would've accused Will of being capable of empathy, but no one else knew him better than Jem. And whatever the reason was to come here, Jem had to admit he almost forgot his morning's coughing fit and he felt much better.  
'So, what are you waiting for'- he heard an insistent whisper behind him. Jem rolled his eyes, amused by his friend's impatience and excitement, and threw a poultry pie to the ducks. In seconds the birds started to scuffle, each one trying to get to the food first and take the biggest bite for itself. And they did not leave the stuffing behind.  
Will closed to get a batter look at the fight, clearly fascinated.  
'They are really doing it… They're eating the meat. I created cannibal ducks!' he shouted with joy and raised his fist with triumph. Then he bowed to have a better look as the birds started to walk away, visibly disappointed by such a small amount of food. 'Horrid creatures.' He said with conviction, glancing at Jem.  
And that was when one of the ducks must have smelled the remaining pie in his paper bag. It rushed at him quacking loudly, followed by the rest of the flock. Disturbed Will took a few steps back but when the birds didn't sop, he turned on his heel and fled.  
'Jem, get them away from me!' he cried, running next to his friend who doubled over from laugh. He was being followed by a flock of hungry cannibal ducks.  
Jem couldn't remember the last time he laughed that hard.


End file.
